Over the years, The Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector for the City and County of San Francisco has made changes that make it easier for individuals and organizations to pay taxes. But the process for paying property taxes was still complicated and confusing for taxpayers, which caused some to unintentionally miss payments. As a result, the Office started searching for a solution to simplify the payment process and help ensure timely payment of the approximately $9 billion in tax payments collected annually.

The Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector consolidated four legacy payment portals into a single system powered by Adobe Experience Manager Forms. Centralizing and simplifying county tax filings enabled the office to cut the time it takes to prepare and send bills in half. It also increased the number of taxpayers using the online portal for payment by 10 percent in the first year.

Adobe Experience Manager Forms collects data online and sends it to back-end systems that identify individual and business taxpayers. Taxpayers gain greater visibility into what they owe and the new system helps them avoid late fees.

“A lot of time and resources are spent processing requests for penalty waivers where the individual or business either isn’t aware of additional taxes that needed to be paid or didn’t get the additional notification in time,” says Tajel Shah, chief assistant treasurer, Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector. “Integrating Adobe Experience Manager Forms into the waiver process helps us improve customer service by sending timely, automated communications to taxpayers with the status of their requests.”

Automation with Adobe Experience Manager Forms helps reduce errors, which improves taxpayer satisfaction. The number of office calls and visits is also lower, which saves the Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector time and money.